The first honest* man

[Auggie]

by Bruce Jenkins
San Francisco Chronicle, 8-15-09

There's a feeling in the scientific community that steroids will one day be legal, that their medicinal benefits are too great to ignore and that they will be refined to degrees of heightened safety. We're a long way from that point. We're still in a nebulous world of potential side effects and the "tarnishing," if you buy that argument, of sporting achievements over the past 40-odd years. But the day is coming.

We live in an age of aggressive performance enhancement in all walks of life, an obsession that is bound to escalate, not diminish, in sports. Years from now, in that ever-so-enhanced world, people will view baseball's so-called Steroid Era and scoff at the notion that Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and others drew so much scorn, skepticism and ridicule. It will be clear that they only reflected a widespread pattern in society, a roaring tide that could not be stemmed. As such, we need athletes to start speaking honestly about their deeds, to disarm the public with clear-headed admissions. That's why Bronson Arroyo, of the Cincinnati Reds, is my MVP in baseball so far. Speaking with USA Today, he talked openly about seeking an edge with "andro," amphetamines and multiple supplements until baseball got serious about drug testing. He says he could easily be on that list of 104 players who tested positive in 2003, and that he still downs every supplement he can get away with - because that's just how it is in this culture.

"You don't want me to get Albert Pujols out? Give me a break," he said. "If you give me (the amphetamine) Adderall, and I strike out Pujols in the seventh inning with the bases loaded, there's a pretty good chance I'll take that Adderall the next time." Why did the union drag its feet so long on drug testing? "Right or wrong, the union is there to make sure we look good in the media, make as much money as we can and continue our career as long as we can," he said. "I don't regret a thing. Neither should anyone else."

Granted, there's a loose-cannon element to Arroyo's comments. For the wisest people on the planet - the ones who dismiss artificial enhancement and always will - the subject will forever be unsettling. People are going to realize, though, that for all the hand-wringing over athletes' use of steroids, it's the lying that is most inexcusable.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/14/SPVA198UC5.DTL

[TZ]

1. AAAGH!

I would like to know what scientists think steroids are safe? Steroids do have some good medical benefits but they come at a high high price for long term use ( destruction of liver function; cardiac damage; destruction of the thyroid glands.. Possible carcinogenic effects) in fact I'm doing research on some possible treatments to replace steroid therapy in Lupus patients. I really hate this "steroids" are harmless bullshit Steroids/hormones are powerful stuff that should be used with caution.

[joeybee12]

3. I'm waiting for the first roider to come down with cancer while still playing...

...maybe that will wake people up.

[madinmaryland]

4. Was it Ken Kaminiti (sp?) who came down with cancer and died

shortly after retiring?

He had also admitted to being a roider.

[joeybee12]

5. Not sure, I remember about 20 years ago Lyle Alzado died of brain cancer...

...was very vocal about it being due to his steroid use...20 years ago and no one listened to him.

[madinmaryland]

6. Yeah. Alzado was another one. He was very vocal about it also.

Unfortunately, the next 10-20 years are going to be pretty rough on the roiders.

[joeybee12]

7. Yup, I'm not going to enjoy that, but you can't help think but

I told you so. I think Bonds will be the first...HGH is a killer.

[TZ]

8. Flo-Jo died of heart problems

I believe she probably was a long time steroid user.

[joeybee12]

10. Lots of rumors about her, but wasn't it because of epilepsy?

She moved weird while sleeping and stopped breathing.

[TZ]

12. I'm pretty sure I heard it was a heart condition

Maybe I'm wrong.

[flvegan]

11. Except that it wasn't.

He was telling the media it was steroids, his personal physician was saying that it wasn't. Guess which story sold papers?

The Alzado "steroids killed me" story is among the largest myths in sport history.

[TZ]

13. Yes he believed that steroids hurt him

But that kind of cancer is not likely connected DIRECTLY connected to roids. It's possible that long time steroid use made his immune system weaker and that led to the cancer but there is no way to know for sure.

[flvegan]

14. That is a possibility, yes.

And considering the amounts he alleges he was using, that wouldn't surprise me.

IIRC, he was also using the hGH that came from dead bodies. If I were looking for blame, I might tread there.

[joeybee12]

15. Doesn't deny the fact he took them...and the guy wasn't old...

...he might have been pre-disposed to cancer, and certain steroids have a way of speeding up certain functions, hence the hair on the back that should only happen to old men.

And why is a doctor ALWAYS right?

[flvegan]

18. I'm not denying that he took them.

And quite a bit of them, according to him. But Alzado saying that steroids killed him doesn't mean they did. If they had, I'm sure the coroner's report would have mentioned it. I've never heard that it does.

The doctor isn't always right. However, I'm going with what his doctor said over his opinion. Especially since his opinion got him so much attention and I'm sure money.

[joeybee12]

I doubt it got him money, and I doubt a dying man would want money...

...he could have been wrong, but there are other instances where steroids will speed up disease...they're killers.

[flvegan]

20. Not at responsible doses they aren't.

It's ignorant to say that in general steroids are killers.

Yes, if you take a shitpile of crappy gear for 20+ years, yes, you are pretty much putting a gun to your head. It's kind of like liquor in a way. If you're a very light drinker without any disposition towards disease that liquor can accelerate, you're probably not going to have problems because of it. If you drink a couple liters of Jack Daniels every day, you're more than likely going to die much earlier.

[joeybee12]

19. I doubt it got him money, and I doubt a dying man would want money...

...he could have been wrong, but there are other instances where steroids will speed up disease...they're killers.

[Onceuponalife]

21. That's the future that Barry Bonds gets to look forward to.

*edit* for keyboard dyslexia

[joeybee12]

9. Caminiti...admitted roids and died at 41....

Caminiti died of an apparent heart attack at Lincoln Memorial Hospital in The Bronx on October 10, 2004. Preliminary news reports on October 15 indicated he died of a drug overdose. Rob Silva, an acquaintance of Caminiti who spent part of the day with him on October 10, told Newsday that Caminiti was edgy and depressed on the day he died, but also said he did not witness Caminiti using drugs on that day. On November 1, the New York City Medical Examiners Office announced that Caminiti died from "acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates," but coronary artery disease and cardiac hypertrophy (an enlarged heart) were also contributing factors.

[TZ]

16. Probably never happen Joey

The problem is steroids do work well but usually the damage is years down the road. Unless you ate taking massive amounts, the bad effects aren't apparant for years...

[joeybee12]

17. And we're talking about relatively young people who are taking them...

...and at that age you never think anything bad will happen to you.

[madinmaryland]

2. Oh come on. Stop this bullshit right FUCKING NOW.

See TZ's post about the KNOWN side affects of the crap that the roid ragers are using. There is a definite need in health care for steroids, but bodily enhancement is NOT one of them.

Now go back to worshipping BARROID and STFU!